Previews begin 4/22 for Dianne Wiest in MEMORY HOUSE

Previews for the Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) production of MEMORY HOUSE, a new play by Kathleen Tolan (The Wax and Kate's Diary at Playwrights Horizons) are set to begin Friday, April 22 at 8 PM. The first preview will be one of the theater company's special "Pay What You Can Night" perfomances (see complete info below**).

Directed by David Esbjornson (Broadway's The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? and The Ride Down Mt. Morgan), the production's official opening is set for Tuesday, May 17 at 7 PM. Performances will continue through Sunday, May 29 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

MEMORY HOUSE stars two-time Academy Award winner Dianne Wiest (Hannah and Her Sisters, Bullets Over Broadway). In addition to her many memorable screen performances, including a third Oscar nomination for Parenthood, Ms. Wiest has appeared on Broadway in Salome, Solitaire, Othello, Beyond Therapy and In the Summer House. She won a Theatre World Award and an Obie Award for The Art of Dining and a second Obie for her work in the plays Other Places and Serenading Louie. Her other New York stage credits include One Flea Spare at The Public, The Shawl at Jewish Rep and Hunting Cockroaches at MTC.

Joining Ms. Wiest is 18 year-old actress Natalia Zvereva, a 2004 graduate of Laguardia High School of the Performing Arts. Making her professional New York stage debut, she previously performed in productions at Laguardia, The Lee Strasberg Theater Institute and Forest Hills Theatre, and has appeared on "As the World Turns." Born in Moscow, she moved to the U.S. with her family at age six.

On New Year's Eve, devoted mother Maggie (Dianne Wiest) bakes a pie as her daughter Katia (Natalia Zvereva) struggles to finish her college entrance essay before the midnight postmark deadline. The seemingly innocuous topic, "What's in your memory house?" throws open a Pandora's Box of questions for Katia that lead all the way back to her birth. With increasing anxiety, Maggie attempts to keep her daughter anchored to her deadline and to herself. MEMORY HOUSE is a timely, authentic portrait of a girl - and a world - on the cusp of an uncertain future.

The production features scenic design by Loy Arcenas, costume design by Elizabeth Hope Clancy, lighting design by Jane Cox and sound design by Jill B.C. DuBoff. Production Stage Manager is James Latus.

PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, is a writer's theater dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. In its 34 years,

Playwrights Horizons has presented the work of more than 350 writers and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. Notable productions include four Pulitzer Prize winners: Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife (2004 Tony Award, Best Play), Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles, Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George, as well as Lynn Nottage's Fabulation, Craig Lucas's Small Tragedy (2004 Obie, Best American Play), Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero, Kirsten Childs's The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey's James Joyce's The Dead, William Finn's March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, Christopher Durang's Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You and Betty's Summer Vacation, Richard Nelson's Goodnight Children Everywhere and Franny's Way, Jon Robin Baitz's The Substance of Fire, Scott McPherson's Marvin's Room, A.R. Gurney's Later Life, Adam Guettel and Tina Landau's Floyd Collins and Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley's Violet.

Playwrights Horizons' production of MEMORY HOUSE has received generous support from the Laura Pels Foundation and the Tobin Foundation for Theatre Arts.

Playwrights Horizons is supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York City Council, the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. In addition, Playwrights Horizons receives major support from the Ford Motor Company Fund, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

The performance schedule for MEMORY HOUSE is Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 PM, Saturdays at 2:30 & 8 PM and Sundays at 2:30 & 7:30 PM. Tickets are $60.

**PAY WHAT YOU CAN NIGHT for MEMORY HOUSE will be the first preview on Friday, April 22 at 8PM. A limited number of tickets will be offered on a walk-up, cash-only, first-come, first-served basis, starting one hour before showtime. Audience members are asked to "pay what they can" at the time of admission. Seating is subject to availability. Tickets, limited to 2 per person, will go on sale at 7pm for the 8pm curtain.

Reflecting PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS' ongoing commitment to making its productions more affordable to younger audiences, the theater company will offer HOTtix, $20 rush tickets, subject to availability, starting one hour before showtime to patrons aged 30 and under. Proof of age required. One ticket per person, per purchase. Student Rush tickets will be available for $15 (cash only, day of performance, one hour before curtain, subject to availability, valid ID required).

Both PAY WHAT YOU CAN NIGHT and HOTtix, popular Playwrights Horizons initiatives made possible by the Ford Motor Company Fund, allow the theater company to reach out to those who may not be able to afford the cost of a full-price theater ticket.

A special open captioned performance of MEMORY HOUSE for deaf and hard of hearing theater-goers will be held on Saturday, May 7 at 2:30 PM. The performance will be followed by a captioned discussion with the playwright. Funding for this program is provided, in part, by the Theodore H. Barth Foundation, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, the Elroy and Terry Krumholz Foundation and the Theatre Development Fund's TAP Plus program in cooperation with the New York State Council on the Arts.

For subscription and ticket information to all PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS productions,
call TICKET CENTRAL at (212) 279-4200, Noon to 8 pm daily,
or purchase online at the Playwrights Horizons website at
www.playwrightshorizons.org